Sheffield is host city for Journalism Skills Conference 2014

The NCTJ is to stage its seventh annual Journalism Skills Conference in Sheffield on 27 and 28 November 2014.

The city is home to two of the NCTJ’s accredited-course providers: the University of Sheffield and Sheffield College, and the two centres will be working together to co-host the event.

The University of Sheffield, which offers accredited BA and MA degree courses, is celebrating 20 years of journalism training in 2014. As part of the celebrations to mark the milestone, the university will be opening a new suite of newsrooms later in the year.

Vice chancellor of the University of Sheffield Professor Sir Keith Burnett said: "The University of Sheffield is delighted to be co-hosting this prestigious NCTJ conference in the twentieth year of our department of journalism studies. In 1994 we began working with student journalists, and our alumni are now at the hub of communications in newsrooms the world over.

“Twenty years on we continue to invest in the future of high-quality journalism by providing new newsroom facilities for students, and we look forward to showing our new journalism building to conference delegates.

"As digital technology produces transformative change, editors strive to rebuild public trust in a new regulatory environment, and journalists around the world face real challenges in reporting key events, we look forward to a conference that it is characterised by stimulating and productive debate on important issues.”

Sheffield College has a long association with the NCTJ and currently offers news journalism, photojournalism and press photography courses. The college is currently investing in its journalism facilities and is due to relocate from Norton College to the newly refurbished Hillsborough campus in 2015.

Heather Smith, principal of Norton College, part of the Sheffield College, said: "We have a national reputation for training media industry talent in both journalism and photojournalism, and a long track record of working with the NCTJ. We were one of the first colleges nationally to offer NCTJ-accredited courses after the organisation was set up. We are delighted to co-host this prestigious industry event and look forward to showcasing the best of journalism in Sheffield."

The conference brings together decision-makers in journalism’s education, training and industry sectors, and is a must-attend event for those who are interested in quality multimedia journalism. In previous years the conference has visited Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham and Bournemouth.

The conference will provide an opportunity to debate the latest issues associated with developing professional journalists across all media sectors. The winners of the NCTJ Awards for Excellence sponsored by NFL, will also be presented during the conference.

Further programme information and booking instructions will be published on the NCTJ website at the end of May.